Missing the Moment
by ConfessionsofaRebel
Summary: Jesse and Beca didn't get together after the finals but only continued their friendship. But what will that cause in the long run?
1. Chapter 1

**They didn't get together after the finals but only continued their friendship. But what will that cause in the long run?**

"You cried, didn't you."

It wasn't a question but a full-fledged statement directed at her, along with a smug look on Jesse Swanson's face. A few days had passed since the Bella's had taken the long awaited victory from the Treblemakers. "You're such a weirdo." Beca Mitchell replied dutifully as she always did. Jesse couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something different about them ever since the finals. He wasn't sure about her, but it made him rethink a few of the things he had going for him in life. He thought of his wants, his needs, his successes and his regrets. And the funny thing was that he didn't exactly have things to regret until after the finals.

He wanted to continue with the Treblemakers and maybe get them to a victory next year. He wanted to continue leading the group and maybe bring them to a new era. He wanted the group to also not seem as douche-like since Bumper had left. But that was another matter all together. He needed to focus and hone in on this passion for singing. To put his all into all he did and to believe that he could do it without fail. He needed someone or more than one someone that wasn't afraid to tell him when he was wrong so that he could learn from his mistakes. He needed Beca Mitchell in his life.

He also, however unfortunately, regretted Beca Mitchell. He didn't regret singing to her on that first day of school. He didn't regret being pushy with their friendship and showing her all the movies he possibly ever could through "movication." He didn't regret showing her The Breakfast. What he did regret was something entirely different.

He regretted not kissing her that moment after the finals.

That night of the finals, their eyes had locked as she made it down the stage and into the audience. Not once had they broken as she stood in front of him. She placed her delicate hands on his shoulders as he greeted her anxiously. Anxiously being the key word. He had been moved beyond words at her apology and couldn't begin to explain how much he cared for her. Beca began to lean into him, with what some believe the intent to kiss, others believe to just hug. Before realizing his mistake, he urged his body forward enveloping Beca in a tight hug. He felt Beca's body stiffen momentarily before returning the hug. He thought it odd but didn't think twice; he was just thankful to see her smiling at him and only him.

And that was the problem.

The problem was brought up to him not from self-realization but from the rather harmonized voices of both the Treblemakers and the Bellas. After the finals both teams had decided on a truce (temporarily) to have an after party at the Treblemaker's hotel. He couldn't help but have a goofy smile at the way she looked that night as the two talked the entire way to the hotel. She was hyped and excited and more than happy to be with him. "Hey, I'm going to go call my dad, be back in a minute." She gestured to a more quiet corner of the room they had rented for the party. Jesse stuffed his hands in his pockets as he felt a shove on his shoulder. He swiveled to see who had attempted to get his attention. "What the hell?" Donald's voice. He normally would have recognized it but he was distracted by other things plaguing his mind. "What's wrong?" Jesse smoothly asked, giving him a perplexed reaction.

"She was going to kiss you tonight and you went for a hug?!" Aubrey jumped in with an aca-frustrated expression. Jesse looked at her in awe momentarily. "Woah woah, hold on here for a second. Firstly, what are you talking about? Secondly, you were dead set against us before this all happened. We're just friends" Jesse moved backward a bit.

"Oh please, you two have been eye sexing each other since the beginning of the year. It's all over and even though she _did_ take an oath, I think she went pretty up and beyond to not only be a Bella but to prove to you that she cares." Aubrey explained without taking two breaths. The perks of being a singer. "Look, it's Beca. She was going for a hug." He urged trying to not give himself hope that maybe she had wanted the kiss. "She sang a song for you and you pumped your fist in the air. She wanted to kiss." Donald stated without doubt. Jesse furrowed his eyebrows once more as he felt a nervous feeling rush over him.

Had she wanted to kiss him and had he ruined any chance at it?

"She doesn't really strike me as the suck your face after serenading type." Fat Amy said in passing as she took a long gulp from her red cup. "See, I'm right. Even Fat Amy agrees with me." He said that and realized how not credible that statement sounded. "Guys, I think it's safe to say that Beca and Jesse are just friends." Benji stated with a slight slur but gave a friendly pat on Jesse's shoulder. The sentence both relieved him and disappointed him all at once. Because he wanted to be more than friends but now he had the haunting thought that he might have ruined his chances.

He also had a few other problems…

"Jesse?"

Jesse snapped out of his thoughts to find himself back in the radio station with Beca sitting across from him. Her head was tilted slightly with a raised hand moving right to left, trying to get his attention. "Sorry, what's up?" He laughed off his mental daze as Beca gave him a slightly concerned look. "You're busy tonight, right?" She repeated her question. "Um, yeah I'm working on my project with my partner, Tyler. Why?" He took a sip of his water as he awaited her answer. "It's nothing, Luke wanted to talk to me about songs to mix and I thought maybe you'd want to join in. But you're busy so it's cool…" He swallowed his water roughly, feel becoming not as refreshing as water usually was.

Luke.

"Yeah, uh…" He quickly attempted to find a way, anything to get her not to go, or even somehow a way that he could skip out on Tyler, but nothing came to mind. "Sorry, maybe next time." He offered her a grin that wasn't completely there, but the attempt was strong enough that Beca didn't question it. "Will you guys be ordering out? Because sometimes I think enough it enough." He bloated his cheeks out and filled them air, insinuating that Luke ought to stop eating so much greasy food. "I heard that!" Jesse jumped at the muffled yell from the booth. Luke came out with an eyebrow raised. He did what he had done once before, raising his shirt to reveal his toned six pack.

"I think I'm good still." He grinned widely in Jesse's direction before his gaze flicked over the Beca who was noticeably looking. A burning jealousy sparked in Jesse as we watched Luke purposely do what he did. Jesse didn't like being jealous. If anything, he tried to avoid it completely. But meeting Beca had, if anything shown to him that he was indeed the jealous time. He silently took a deep breath as he gained control of the grimace that was tempting to cover his face.

The day went on and they both went their separate ways; Beca to mix a few things before her… whatever with Luke. Jesse to start working on his film project with Tyler. Tyler and him had agreed to meet outside the library around lunch and begin working in the grass. From there, they'd work until dinner and grab something to eat thereafter. Jesse set up his station, laptop, headphones and a bowl of popcorn prepared for their film analysis. As he waited for Tyler, his mind did wander to Beca once more. Like what she and Luke would talk about tonight. If talking really would actually happen.

"Jesse?"

He was once again brought back from his thoughts of Beca to reality. It came in the form of a shadow that stood in front of him. Denim. His eyes had focused on the denim jeans that had been standing in front of him. "I see you've made a little area for us." Tyler grinned as she sat down next to Jesse, dropping her bag beside her and pulling out a notebook and pen. "Well I think it's too nice of a day to do it anywhere but. We can always go inside if you want-"

She cut him off before he could finish. "No, really, it's fine!" She stuttered slightly. "I like doing this outside. It feels a bit more comfy than doing it inside a library." She laughed a bit nervously before pulling out her dual headphone jack. He gave her a polite grin before he pulled up alist of movies they'd be analyzing.

* * *

"You off your shift soon?" Beca asked Chloe as she waited for her coffee order. "Yeah, in five minutes. Something wrong?" She gave her a slightly concerned look as she began wiping down the counter. It was the last thing she had to do. "Yeah but… you know, forget. It's probably nothing." She pushed the thought aside momentarily, trying to keep her mind off the ever so troubling thought. "No! You have to tell me! That's what friends do!" She gave Beca a wide eyes look before finishing her last section of the counter. Beca blinked, somewhat stunned and didn't see the arm that hooked in hers and began dragging her away. She was lucky enough to grab her coffee before Chloe had manhandled her to the outside and towards the dorms.

There was a silence before Beca finally spoke and Chloe finally unleashed her arm. "Jesse's confusing me." She said bluntly and to the point. Chloe frowned, knowing very well that the boy was up front about most things. Especially when it came to Beca. "I don't mean to sound like one of those girls that's constantly thinking about a guy but I'm turning into one of them, I think. He's been distant lately and I think I did something wrong or he just doesn't like me like that like I thought he did…" She mumbled the last part, disappointment laced into each word.

"Beca, listen. Jesse is crazy about you and you are beyond dense for not…" Chloe paused as her mouth fell open a bit at a sight behind Beca. Beca, curious and perplexed, turned around to see what could have caused such a reaction. There sat Jesse and a pretty red haired girl in the grass that he and her once sat in. A bowl of popcorn, a laptop and she felt her hand twitch ever so slightly at the sight of juice pouches. Beca paused before pressing her lips together and turning once more to Chloe.

"…You were saying?"

**I felt conflicted with feels enough to write about Pitch Perfect. I usually write only my Avengers but when you've got a feeling you go with it. Read, Review, and tell me what you thought! (:**


	2. Chapter 2

"And then she told me to not mention what happened to anyone before she walked off towards the dorm." Chloe said with a disappointed tone as she shared a call with Donald, Aubrey and Benji. "I know who I'll be telling secrets to now…" Donald mumbled into the phone as Chloe spilled what had happened. Chloe rolled her eyes. "That's not the point. Something is totally wrong here. And this happened about an hour ago, just so we have an accurate timeline."

"She's right. Popcorn and juice pouches are totally their thing. Some major damage control needs to be done." Aubrey stated firmly while she continued with her yoga. The was silence on the other sides of the call as she continued to stretch. She lifted her eyes to a guy, who looked about her age, stretching across the way. He stared back. Aubrey blinked slightly before smiling to herself and looking away. Benji spoke up. "We could talk to each of them-" He was cut off by all three of them. "No." They said in unison. "Beca's not the talking type. It takes a while for her to come to terms." Chloe mentioned as she manicured her nails. "And Jesse is in denial about the whole thing. At least I think he is." Donald added to strengthen the argument. The unspoken question was what they should do to solve the problem.

"We'll have to discuss this more formally at another time. I've got a few things I need to focus on. Bye!" Aubrey cut off her end of the line as she continued to make eyes at the guy across the room. He returned the gaze and a smile of his own. The conversation between Chloe, Donald, and Benji continued shortly. "Well if Jesse's with that girl, what's Beca doing?" Benji questioned, wondering why neither Aubrey nor Donald had brought it up. "She's talking with Luke about music stuff. You know, the hot blond from the station she works at?" In the process of hearing her response, two simultaneous things happened. Donald questioned who the hell Luke was. Benji, on the other hand, did a spit-take of the water he had been drinking. "She's out with Luke?!" Benji knew all too well who Luke was. He and Jesse were on an all honesty roommate agreement, which he liked. And Benji couldn't count the amount of times Jesse came back to the dorm frustrated or angry at 'Luke from the station.' Benji looked at the time, realizing he had to get to class. "Hey, I've gotta go, but we're continuing this later." He wiped the water spatter that had gotten on his face as he hung up his phone.

He and Jesse were going to have to have a long talk.

"So what did you like better, Jaws or Jurassic Park and why?" She had her notebook out as the two sat in a diner waiting for their meal order to be called. The time read 6:47. Some people were eating, others were in line to order take out. "That's a tough one. I mean with Jaws you have this film that could have been total crap but Spielburg pulled a Hitchcock that had us hooked throughout the entire movie. And with a badass hero like Brody, what couldn't you like? And the score!" He appeared to get excited as he got to the score. "Beautifully done. Break my heart every time." He feigned swooning as he placed a hand over his heart. Tyler laughed in response but kept writing. "And Jurassic Park?" She continued. He gave her a wide grin. "The suspense thing is still there but I think Jaws did it better. Both scores though, I mean wow. And then the lack of dialogue during the kitchen scene with the two kids? Perfect to the period. Overall, I liked Jaws more. I feel like there's more of a nostalgia for with that one."

He took a sip of his soda from having spoken with very few breaths. Tyler finished up her last sentence before placing her pen down. "I think we're good for now. Our project is looking pretty well analyzed if you ask me." She grinned as she looked at all the notes they took during the movie.

"It helps that we've both seen all these movies multiple times that we can just write and still enjoy it as much as we want." Jesse nodded in agreement. "Okay, so we have the Spielburg unit, the John Hughes unit, and then the Rom-Com unit. Sound good?" He offered just as the waiter came with their orders. Tyler took a bite before replying. "Sounds great. For the John Hughes unite I think we should go with Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and The Breakfast Club." Jesse wagged his finger in agreement. He swallowed and smiled widely. Tyler elicited a giggled as she looked at him.

"What's wrong?" He smiled, although slightly confused. She grabbed a napkin from her side before leaning over. "You've got ketchup all over your right side." She began softly smudging away the ketchup from his face, their conversation coming to a halt. The order bell rang, signaling that one of the take-out orders were ready. "You Luke?" The guy behind the counter asked. The man in line took his two bags and left his money on the counter as he nodded in confirmation. "Here and ready." He replied as he waved the worker goodbye. "Where are you from, by the way?" The guy behind the counter asked, noting the man's thick accent. "London. Glad you didn't assume though." He gave a half smile as he turned around.

Luke's smile faded slowly as his vision focused on a table situated closely in the corner. The sight of Jesse and a red haired girl being rather close, both with comfortable smiles. He paused, slightly confused at the sight. "Something a bit off there…" He muttered to himself before heading through the door.

Jesse, feeling an uncomfortable stare on his side, turned abruptly, only seeing empty space in the area he glanced at. "What's wrong?" Tyler asked. Jesse shook his head. "Nothing, thought I saw something." He paused before redirecting his attention to his partner. "So tell me what you think about The Breakfast Club."

Beca sat at the station alone as she stacked the CDs that hadn't been finished. She had her headphones on the loudest setting as she tried to drown out any of her anxious thoughts. It wasn't until a tap on the shoulder that she broke from her own little world. That, and the smell of chicken nuggets with fries. "You'll go deaf with those that loud." He chuckled, ushering her to the table that Luke once regarded as the table not to have sex on. "Smells great, where'd you go?" She asked, not really paying attention to the bag's name. "The diner down the block. I usually have Jesse get my lunch from there."

At the mention of his name, Luke noticed a subtle stiffening in her posture that disappeared as quickly as it came. "By the way, congrats on your acapella win. Not many can do that." He tried changing the subject to maybe bring her spirits up. "I didn't think we could do it but after a lot of work and effort we pulled through." She chuckled lightly. "Aubrey's… she's a piece of work but she can be nice after a while." She dunked her nugget into some ketchup. "Never heard that but it's nice to hear a different view of her…" He thought to himself as he bit into his burger.

"I think you'd like her if you got to know her." Beca mentioned offhandedly. "She's really dedicated about things." He nodded in understanding. "I didn't think you could be so dedicated either. And to multiple things at that. I mean you have your DJing, which I'll be honest I didn't actually look at until Jesse kind of bugged me about it." She notably stiffened. "And you have the Bellas no and…" He paused, taking a sigh and placing his burger down. "Alright this isn't going to work if you're that distracted by something. Not only that but you look like you've lost sleep."

"What are you talking about?" She asked, confused at his sudden change.

"Whenever I bring the bloke up you stiffen and to be quite honest you aren't your usual snarky self. What happened between you and him?" Beca paused, placing her half eaten chicken nugget back in the container before eliciting a long sigh. She was tired and has been losing sleep over Jesse. She was surprised that Luke of all people would be the first to notice. She didn't want to go into detail about what happened after they sang. She honestly couldn't tell what had happened. She had the _intention_ of kissing him. At least that's what she leaned forward to do. But somehow some way it turned into a hug.

"Jesse's being a bit… confusing." She paused, trying to find her words. "He's been sending mixed signals and I don't really know what to do and-" She stopped once more noticing how Luke had pressed his lips firmly together in thought. Her eyes begged the question of why he made the face and it became his turn to sigh. "Tonight when I went out to get dinner I saw Jesse at the diner…. With another girl. Pretty red haired girl. They looked… closer than what you'd think mates would be." He gave sympathetic eyes towards her as she let the statement sink in. She sat in silence, trying to compose her thoughts.

"I feel as though I should take you home. Sleep would do you well, you know." She nodded silently, picking up the remainder of her food and throwing it into the trash beside the table. "You don't have to answer now, but I don't fancy awkward tension in the station. If you want to change your hours, you're more than welcome to do that." He offered as he gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. She took a deep breath before nodding once more. The two left the station without another word.

The next day, Jesse didn't see Beca at the station and concluded something was officially wrong when she never responded to her texts.


End file.
